Israel Matzav: 'Israel doesn't have an independent strike capability against Iran'

'Israel doesn't have an independent strike capability against Iran'

Writing in Haaretz, Amos Harel worries that Israel does not have the capability to inflict real damage on Iran in the event that it undertakes a strike against the Islamist nation's nuclear weapons capability.

It must be stated plainly: Israel does not have independent strike capability against Iran - not in the broad sense of the term. The air force is capable of delivering a certain amount of explosives to a given target and bringing most of its aircraft back home intact. But it is doubtful whether Israel can allow itself to act against the wishes of the United States - to stand alone against an Iranian response and begin an open-ended operation against a nation of 70 million people.

An attack must be the last resort, not just another option placed on the table. It is best to disabuse ourselves of illusions about our ability to dictate a new Mideast order. That is the lesson learned, in blood, by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon in Lebanon in 1982 and by George W. Bush in Iraq in 2003.

My gut reaction is that if Iran is getting close to the bomb and if no one else is acting (can anyone out there really see Obama going after Iran militarily?), Israel will have no choice but to act. So we will have to give it our best shot and pray for a miracle. We cannot live with a nuclear Iran.

Israel Matzav: 'Israel doesn't have an independent strike capability against Iran'